Pokkén Tournament Worlds Preview

By Reece Dos-Santos, Contributing Writer

After a hotly
contested circuit of qualifier events, 16 talented challengers will take to the
stage in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, for a
chance to become the 2019 Pokkén
Tournament DX World Champion!

The event will start
on Friday with the Last Chance Qualifier, and then continue with the World
Championships on Saturday. Like last year's events, all matches will use the
three-on-three Team Battle format. For any fans who haven't yet had the chance
to watch an event this year, the strategies of this format can differ greatly
from standard Pokkén Tournament DX gameplay. Competitors go into battle
with three Battle Pokémon as opposed to one, all of which share a common Synergy
Gauge, Support Gauge, and Cheer Skill. With each downed Pokémon, the next is
chosen to take up the mantle, inheriting the current state of the battle from
their partner—for example, a full Synergy Gauge from a Pikachu can now be
passed on to the otherwise slow-charging Gengar in the next round!

With added tactics and
more to think about in the state of the battle, competitors have been hard at
work team building and optimizing their strategies throughout the year. Now at
the World Championships, we'll see the best of what this format's brightest
minds have to offer.

Remember that you'll
be able to watch Pokkén Tournament action all three days on Twitch.tv/PokkenTournament. Check out the full streaming schedule for times. Read on to
see what to watch for as our top Pokkén Tournament competitors prepare
to face off!

Will Mewtwo Strike Back Again?

Mewtwo and Shadow
Mewtwo have been dominant all season to a degree that no one could have
possibly predicted coming into this new format. Among all the Pokémon in the
game, Mewtwo is the slowest at charging a Synergy Gauge. Plus, each individual
use of Mewtwo's Pokémon moves also has the drawback of lowering Mewtwo's Synergy
Gauge, making a slow process even slower. Despite this, many Trainers have
grown to truly appreciate the stability and strength of the Legendary
powerhouse. Presenting an alternative approach to what originally looked to be
a fast-paced, synergy-focused format due to the shared Synergy Gauge, Mewtwo's
wide array of reactionary tools and sizable bulk have proven too useful to pass
up. In addition to being able to slow down the pace of the game and control its
flow, Mewtwo is also capable of speeding it up and delivering a decisive blow
to anyone that can't find their footing in battle.

Across the four major
qualifier events, Mewtwo was picked by 15 of the Masters Division competitors
that reached Top 8 in their respective regions and featured on the teams of every
winner in all four events. That's dominance!

The only other Pokémon
that also managed to feature on the winning team of every qualifier event was
Shadow Mewtwo. Being picked by 12 of the Masters division Top 8 competitors
from the 2019 qualifier events, Shadow Mewtwo has also made a big splash
despite starting with the lowest health and using health as resource for
its Pokémon moves. In a complete opposite style to its counterpart, Shadow
Mewtwo provides a very quick and dynamic change of pace to the game flow. With
the fastest charging Synergy Gauge in the game, Shadow Mewtwo can quickly take
control of a game and end it just as fast. This high-risk, high-reward style has
proven to be greatly disruptive and effective, especially against teams that
bank on specific strategies or utilizing the most out of one Pokémon in
particular.

In partnership with
each other—the slow and calculated Mewtwo and the fast and unforgiving Shadow
Mewtwo—the two Pokémon provide possibly one of the biggest midbattle changes of
pace the game has to offer. It's easy to see why this partnership has been
favored throughout the format's lifetime.

However, with great
popularity comes great exposure! Now that competitors have had the chance to
see these two in action for so long, it's highly possible that alternative
strategies have been developed to counteract them. If there's any greater time
to defy the meta, it's on the world stage. How Trainers use—and prepare
against—Mewtwo and Shadow Mewtwo will certainly be a huge storyline to watch
for as the weekend rolls on.

Truly an All-Star Cast

Without question, this
is shaping up to be one of the most exciting and competitive events in Pokkén
Tournament history. With Masami “Potetin” Sato's qualification in Europe, Abe
“Tonosama” Hisaharu's qualification in North America, and Jacob “ThankSwalot”
Waller's automatic invitation as last year's World Champion, this is an exciting
chance to see all three former World Champions competing together at one event.
However, while the decorated trio look to become the first Champion of two
different formats, many other talented players stand in their way toward
another World Championship.

Fabian “Fabilous” Zahn
makes his return to the Worlds stage after missing out on qualification for the
first time last year. There's extra sentiment and challenge in it for the
German prodigy this time, as the EU Qualifier Champion Niklas “DefenderofEU”
Laerbusch's inability to attend makes Zahn the sole European representative in
the current Worlds cast. Chaz “Mewtater” Wright also makes a return to the
World Championships after a dominant display led him to fend off two of the
former Champions in attendance to place first at the North American
International Championships in June. Motochika “Elm” Nabeshima will also be in attendance
after securing his second consecutive victory at the Oceania International
Championships and placing second at the North American International
Championships, proving himself to be a major challenger no matter the format.

The high stakes action
isn't just limited to the Masters Division. Over in the Senior Division, Collin
“Ashgreninja1” Jones will be looking to strike back against Japan's young
mastermind and last year's Champion Yusuke Kato after narrowly missing out on
winning the title for himself. We'll also get to see Emma “Kitty” Cox complete
her impressive world tour having placed first in Oceania and second in Europe
and North America, respectively. Be sure to also catch the Senior Division
showdown to see if she can earn yet another top placing.

The battles begin on
August 16 with the Last Chance Qualifier where two spots in the final 16 will
be up for grabs. Once those spots have been filled, these 16 will duke it out on
Saturday in what is sure to be one of the most exciting Pokkén Tournament events of all time. Be sure to tune in to Twitch.tv/PokkenTournament to ensure you don't miss any of the high-level
action to come!

About the Writer

Reece Dos-Santos
Reece Dos-Santos is a contributing writer covering Play! Pokémon events for Pokemon.com. He is one of the earliest members of the Pokkén Tournament community, as well as a long-time veteran and commentator from the fighting game community. Reece can be found online at Sabrewoif.

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